Originally Posted by
Lima Juliet
Thanks - although even a OR-4 Level 1 Cpl on Supp 1 starts on £31,244.76p these days. Which is pretty much the same as a Fg Off/Lt. I also found some FOI info dating back to 2014 where there were 190 NCO Pilots in the AAC trained strength - the breakdown of which is thus:
Warrant Officer Class 1 30
Warrant Officer Class 2 70
Staff Sergeant 50
Sergeant 40
With only ~1/4 at OR-6 that ain’t cheap!!
It’s a big myth that SNCO Pilots are cheaper. They just aren’t.
Hmmm. If you take a LCpl (Level 3 let’s say so he has his recommend in order to qualify for the pilot course) and a FgO who start the same pilot course (assume the FgO goes RW for a side by side comparison) then the Officer will be taking home 40k plus a lot sooner than the NCO due to promoting on timelines while the NCO marks time on course. If both only stay in for the minimum RoS then the Officer works out a lot more expensive than the NCO.
Of course there are many,
many caveats that could be thrown into the mix and we could end up going round in circles playing with the numbers to suit our own perspectives but one thing I have learnt is that upon investigation, WO1s and Flt Lts can only get to level 30 on PA so can’t cost more (in wage) than one another if they are both at the top of the tree 🌝
Apologies for thread drift but I’ve always been interested in the NCO vs Commission front seater piece from different service perspectives